Piano Lessons
by Crystabel.Shalott
Summary: In a rainy afternoon Annie teaches Finnick how to play the piano. Modern day/AU


**Author's note:**I hope that the translation of the technical words is correct. If it isn't please let me know.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'The Hunger Games' nor the characters, they belong to Suzanne Collins.

Piano Lessons:

"Come on Annie! Why don't you want to teach me?"

"Because" she looks him in the eyes "You have absolutely no patience when it comes down to certain things. And when you don't manage to do something, your attention drifts away and you become annoying"

It was true, Finnick was an extraordinary man and she loved him dearly but in all the time she known him, there had been only a couple of things that got his attention for more than just a few minutes. He had to like the thing a lot and only then he would have shown attention and passion towards it. She had no clue whatsoever about where he got this idea from, maybe it was the rainy afternoon that had caused a change of plans to their planned trip to the seaside. It was probably the rainy weather because he never showed the slightest interest in the old pianoforte she brought when they moved in together. Except when it came down to her playing for him, in that case he would have sit there, lost in some contemplation for hours. And she really liked playing for him. Finnick Odair was the only person to whom she loved playing the piano, otherwise she just played for herself. Herself never for others that was the reason why she stopped taking lessons after thirteen years of practice. It was her passion but she didn't want to let it become her job.

"I have lots and lots of patience my love"

"No you don't. But I love you anyway"

And if there was one important quality to possess in learning an instrument, it was patience: there were the hours to spent doing over and over the same things, even if after a while they become boring, until they become natural. The right position of fingers on keys to remember, the quick and fluent movements. Only after a few years of intense practice one finally lost the tendency to look at what the hands were doing and begun to concentrate on the music itself, on the notes written on there was no way Finnick could learn all of this in just one afternoon.

"Why do you want to learn it anyway?"

"Because I just want to try it myself. When I look at you, I always wonder how it is to be the one who sits on that chair playing and not the one who listens. Please Annie, I swear that I will stay calm. I will not, under any circumstance, lose my patience and become annoying. Please"

He gives her the most cunning smile and a quick kiss.

She sighs, it always happened this way: they were not able to refuse anything to the other.

"Right then but I will teach you just the basic things and one simple song. One song Odair, if you still want to go on I may think about it, otherwise you will never bring the subject up again"

He jumps up from the sofa, making her almost fall, and runs to the stool set near the piano, opening it. Annie places herself near him, she is practically sitting on him: the stool is too small to have place enough for both of them but after a few rearrangements they find an equilibrium.

"This is the central C, it's the note from which everything starts. Now" she takes his hand and places it in the right position "I will play the sequence of notes in a lower key than you imitate my movements. Here you have: c, d, e, f, g, a, b. Now you"

Finnick tries to copy her at his best and he does it right, were it not for the position of his hands.

"Good, but your hands are in the wrong position. It is aggressively wrong" She places her hands on his "Let your hand take the form of mine. It is like you have a ball in your palm" He adjust it "Yes, so. Next your fingers have to touch the keys lightly and only with the fingertips and your thumbs don't have to face to the outside. Now let us do this together"

He makes the same movement as before but this time she is guiding him and it works better. Her fingers, over his, control the position and the speed and it works better than she expected.

"Relax Finnick, it's not going to bite you. And you are doing well"

They repeat the same thing a couple of times more, before she takes her hands away and let Finnick work alone. Meanwhile she thinks about a song to let him play. She needs a moment to focus but then she remembers the first tune she learned to play: it is the most basic thing she knows. There is no change of speed, it can be played only with one hand and is very short.

"You are working well, I think we can pass to the next step: I will very slowly play you a tune. Look at my fingers first then I'll guide you, just as before. If it works you can try to do it alone"

They spent half an hour repeating the same thing over and over again, and she actually enjoys it. The teaching. She never thought she would, but it is actually a nice way to spent time with Finnick. Not counting that it is beautiful to see their hands move in unison on the keys. And it fills her with genuine joy when Finnick begins to be all happy about his good results. He keeps on smiling and his eyes, of the same shade of the ocean, are brighter than ever.

"Annie?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we can stop for today. I really enjoyed it, don't get me wrong. And you are the best teacher ever but I am quite bored"

They both start to laugh about it.

"But could you play for me? Just one thing, please"

"It depends" she replies serious.

"On what?"

"How you will reward my efforts, both for teaching you and for my concert"

"Well… We could continue what we interrupted before"

"Works for me. What do you want me to play?"

"The moonlight thing… the part that goes all quick. You know what I mean?"

She nods as reply. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, third movement. It is actually her favorite part of it. When she just learned to play it she used to play it at different speeds trying to find the limit she was capable to reach before he fingers entwined themselves, and it was the best sheet of music to express feelings especially when she was particularly frustrated.

Finnick takes place on the sofa near the piano and Annie positions her in the right position on the stool and begins to play. Her fingers fly on the keys and her gaze is lost in the distance, the notes are displayed in her mind and they come out naturally, not forced. She gets captured by the tunes following one another and it is Finnick's applause to bring her back to reality when she is finished.

"That was beautiful, how long did it take you to play like that?"

"Thirteen years of long training"

"I don't think I could do that Annie. I quit"

She begins to laugh because she knew this would have happened. She stands up and reaches him on the sofa again, she looks at him and smiles.

"I love you Finnick!"

"I love you Annie!" he replies.

She closes the distance between them with a kiss and lets her fingers wonder through his bronze hair, while he begins to lean on his back pulling her down.

All of a sudden he breaks the kiss and whispers to her ear "My love, if all our piano lessons end this way I retire what I have said. I'm ready to spent the rest of my life taking piano lessons from you"

"As much as I have enjoyed myself, the answer is no"

But Finnick doesn't care for her answer, he just pulls her closer and holds her tight.


End file.
